Right now my betta is in a small QT tank recovering from what looks like a serious case of SBD. He's always been a bit of a shy boy who loved to hide. Now he's in a barren empty tank and is constantly exposed.

I know stress can be a factor in a fish's health, but I know I was told to keep a pretty empty qt tank. But would it be fine if I moved a plant he could hide in into his qt?

I don't have any silk/plastic plants either, so I use a mug as a cave, a small hour glass which he loves to watch and an IAL rested ontop of both items to create a bridge. Inaddition to the heater and thermometer he has plenty of room in the 1g to rest and hide. Whilst treatment doesn't negatively affect anything.

It's not necessary to go out and decorate your QT tank, DIY is always a cheap and easily alternative :)

True. I just figured I'd get something small for him to hide in. Since he's having so much trouble swimming his water is only a few inches deep in his 1 gallon QT tank, and since I have it sitting in the main tank (to keep it heated, my only heater is too big) I was afraid of anything heavy that could be knocked onto him if something were to move the wrong way!

One question--I've been using oak leaves instead of indian almond leaves(but I plan to get some), but are they also safe to leave in the tank with the betta? I wasn't sure if while decomposing they might be any different than the IAL, so I had just been premixing the water and leaving the leaves out of his QT tank. If they are safe, I can totally use those to help him hide!